KCCJ gears up for £4m Glasgow stadia job

Kitchen house KCCJ is preparing to begin work on the build phase of a stadia project that will have been almost three years in the making by the time it is completed next year.

The Dartford-based distributor has the contract to install the catering facilities and related works at the 12,000-seater Hydro Arena in Glasgow, which will be the largest purpose-built indoor arena in Scotland when it opens next year.

Kevin Slatter, managing director of KCCJ, said a full-time project team would be on site from next month and a programme of works is scheduled right the way through until completion in May 2013.

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The £4m project comprises both the supply and installation of catering equipment as well as other work within the catering areas involving ventilation, electrical, laundry and first aid.

“We have been on it 18 months now from the design side because there are huge amounts of design involved, but it is now very close to starting,” he said. “We are due to start on site in the next few weeks and then, touch wood, we need to be finished by the end of May next year.”

Slatter said that the complex shape and structure of the building presented a “big challenge” from the point of view of conceiving the kitchen lay-out, which is why so much time has been spent on the design. “It looks fantastic from the outside but trying to make it work internally, it is a different story,” he said.

The initial focus of KCCJ’s efforts when it gets on site is likely to be the refrigeration lines and a special bulk beer system which will involve outside pumps. The siting and installation of cooking equipment isn’t expected to take place until November.

The Hydro Arena will be of the biggest projects that KCCJ has delivered, but not the biggest. The work it did at the 02 Arena in London was valued at £6m, while its contract for Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium topped that at £8m.